Living Mario
by Cheep FIsh Baby
Summary: A story about four fourteenyearolds who get transported into Super Mario 64. It's more mature than it sounds. Note: This is not a Mary Sue, as none of the characters are based on me.
1. Chapter 1

Alex walked up to the Junior High campus. He had just beaten Super Mario Sunshine last night and nothing and no one was going to get him off this emotional high.

As he opened the door to get inside, he felt a foot under his. It was over. No use to fight. He tripped and dropped all of his books.

Micheal Ryles, or as Alex liked to call him, the biggest idiot on the face of the Earth. No surprise to him when he got his face off the floor to see his grinning face looking down at him.

"Oh sorry," he said in the most insincere voice you could ever imagine, "didn't see you there. Want some help with your books?"

"No thanks," he said coolly. He gathered up his books and kept on going forward.

"Let me get the door for, Alex," Mike said.

Mike held the door open while Alex walked through. He held his hand forward just in time before it hit him in the face at the exact moment Mike let go.

"You need to get some new tricks, Micheal," he said knowing full well he hated to be called Micheal.

Alex walked down the halls of the school to his locker. He passed by Laura Chanson, the girl he loved, or atleast has infattuated with.

"Hello Alex," she said in her sweet voice.

"Hi Laura," he said, less nervously than usual. Sure, she was popular, but she wasn't like those other jerks. She had real confidence, strength, ambition, which he admired. She was beautiful, she was athletic, he wanted her. He loved her short brown hair and deep blue eyes. But he never thought he'd have her. She was too perfect for him. He'd never even had a girlfriend.

Alex went down to his first period, Science. After the lesson, to his surprise, the teacher announced that they would be doing an assignment with a group of 3 or 4 people. Alex hated working in groups. He just sat down while everyone else was walking around getting into groups. He'd just do what he always did, wait for everyone else to get into a group and make the teacher put him in one.

After a few minutes, everyone was sitting down with their groups.

"Everybody in a group?" the teacher asked.

"I'm not," he said.

"No surprise there," said someone behind him.

"Ok Alex, why don't you go to, uh, that group," she said pointing towards a group that included Micheal, Laura, and Micheal's bimbo girlfriend Crystal. Oh great, he thought to himself in a sarcastic tone. I get to work with the two stooges. Well, maybe it won't be so bad, as long as I make sure Micheal and Crystal don't do any of the work, and I have an excuse to stare at Laura. He never really understood why Laura would be friends with them.

He walked to his new group, and on the way he pushed all of the books off the desk of the kid who had made fun of him. But the bell rang just as he sat down and the students started getting out.

"Ok, this is a pretty big assignment and it's due in 3 weeks. We should start working on it tonight," Laura said. "Everyone come over to my house after school."

"No," said Mike. "Come over to mine. It's more better."

"More better? Learn English moron," Alex said.

"Shut up Alex," said Crystal.

"Anyway, wouldn't it be easier just to go to the library," Alex said.

"Ok, there's only one way to do this," Laura said. "We alternate whose house we go to. And, to decide where to go tonight..." She got a piece of paper and ripped it in five pieces. She wrote each of their names and the library on each piece, folded them, and grabbed Mike's baseball cap off his head. She put the paper in the hat, shook it around, and picked a name out. "Well Alex, looks like we're going to your house."

"Great. We get to go to a cardboard box in the McDonald's parking lot," said Mike.

"No Micheal. We're going to my home, not yours."

He told them to come over at 6 o'clock. That gave him enough time to clean up the mess in his house, use a lot of air freshener in the parts of the house that always had a bad smell, and take of of the teddy bears out of his room and into his sister's room.

The group showed up on time. They went to work in Alex's basement. While Crystal, Laura, and Alex discussed the project, Micheal was looking around at his stuff.

"This house sure is small," he said. He noticed that there was a gamecube hooked up to the tv, and and N64 near-by. "Are these the only systems you have?"

"No. I also have Gameboy Advanced, and my computer of course. I guess you could also count my Super Nintendo and my NES."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"What do you mean? Think there's something wrong with nintendo?"

"No, of course not. If you're 6. But personally I prefer Sony."

"Hey, Nintendo has some pretty cool games."

"Like what," he said looking at the game that was in the N64, "Super Mario 64"

"Hey, don't make fun of that game!"

"Why, it's patheticly easy."

"Have you ever played it?"

"No, but I've heard about it."

"Well, let's have a little bet. I'll start a new file for you, and after an hour of playing tell me if you still think it's easy."

He bent down and pressed the on bottun, and all of their lives were about to change forever...


	2. Chapter 2

The strangest thing that ever happened in any of the kids lives happened, which would lead them to the strangest things in their entire lives. 

Alex turned the button to turn on the N64 like he usually would, but as I'' so you guessed, didn't go as it usually would. The red light that indicated the system was on was shining insanely bright, the whole room was filled with red light. It was blinding. They had to cover their eyes from it.

"AH!" screamed Crystal. "Is this supposed to happen?"

Alex was to worried to give an insult to her stupid remark, and simply said, "Uh...no..."

But that was the least yet. A strange wind started building up in Alex's basement out of nowhere. Papers and object were flying all over the place.

"OH MY GOD!" screamed Laura.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" screamed Micheal.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Crystal.

Alex was just in too much shock to even speak. But even he started screaming when a tornado like vortex formed in the middle of the room, sucking everything towards it. The kids were lifted off the ground and sent hurdiling towards the cyclone. Crystal was breaking you tonsils from her screams, Micheal was shouting every swear word in existance, Laura had tears running down her cheeks, and Alex just had a look of pure terror on his face.

They spun around and around, nausiating them to no extent. As they spun it seemed their surroundings were shrinking. And suddenly the force of the wind blew them towards the N64, which now seemed the size of a one story building. They headed straight toward the red light, which now didn't seem to hurt there eyes at all. It seemed they would crash into the plastic, but instead they went through...

They all passed out. Alex was the first to wake up after some unknown amount of time. He opened his eyes and gasped.

"Oh dear Lord," he said. He was standing is a grassy field surrounded by mountains, and infront of him was a huge castle. The others were all lying around him. He had no idea what to do. He just looked around him in astounishment. "It can't be..."

He sat down for a few minutes. After a while, Micheal woke up.

"Holy shi..." Micheal went on to say somethings that I would probably be banned for typing. "Where the hell are we!"

"I, I'm not sure."

"You're not sure!" Micheal grabbed Alex by his collar and started yelling in his face. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU''E NOT SURE! THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT USUALLY HAPPENS!"

"I know just as much you!" Alex screamed back. At that moment Crystal woke up.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. "WHERE AM I! WHERE ARE WE! WHAT IS THIS! AAAAHHHHHHHH!" She curled up into a ball and started crying.

"Crystal, Crystal, it's ok" Micheal reassured.

"WHERE ARE WE!" She screamed.

"I don't know!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!"

Than Laura started to wake up.

"W...where are we?"

"I DON'T KNOW, HE WON'T TELL ME!" screamed Crystal.

"Oh shut up!" Micheal retaliated.

"Uh, I think I might know where we are..." Alex said. "Or I might just be going crazy. But, this looks just like the spot where you start out in Super Mario 64."


	3. Chapter 3

"Ok. This might sound weird, but um, WHAT!" screamed Laura.

"It's just what I told you. This is exactly what the beginning of Super Mario 64 looks like. The castle, the mountains, the lake. This is it. Except...except it looks real. Not like some..."

"Cheep cartoony graphics?" offered Micheal.

"Well, yeah. Except for that cheep part..." Alex looked at his surroundings for a second, breathing heavily. Everyone was silent. How could this be?

"Ok, so we went inside the video game! That's it!" said Crystal. "Wait, no! That doesn't make any sense! We can't go inside a video game! We're dreaming, that's it!"

"Please. If I were dreaming you wouldn't be here," said Alex.

"Who says it's your dream?"

"Ok, if this were your dream would I be here?"

"Well, no."

"Ok, so this retard must of none something to us!" said Micheal. "He's like, tricking us. Trying to make us look like fools!"

"I don't have to make you look like a fool. Maybe, there was a sudden tornado outside my house, which would expalin the wind, that was messing up all the electricity, which would explain the light, and now we're all halocanating?" At that moment, Crystal started crying.

"How are we going get out of here!"

"Well, if we are in the game," said Alex. "Than maybe we should try climbing over those hills. Because in the game, there's nothing over the hills, so maybe we can get out through there?"

But at that moment, the kids saw 4 bright beams of light in the sky, heading straight towards them. Each beam surrounded each of them, freezing their bodies for a few seconds. Than it was gone, and for a second time they collapsed on the ground. But this time they didn't faint. They got up, and everything about them was the same, except for the clothes they were wearing. Micheal was now wearing blue overalls with a red shirt, white gloves, and a red cap with the letter M written on it. Laura was wearing the same thing as Micheal, except her clothes were green and blue, and her cap said L. Crystal was wearing a crown on her head, with a huge pink dress, pearl earrings, gloves, and a necklace. Alex was wearing a huge and heavy mushroon shaped hat, a white t-shirt with a purple vest, and bright red shorts.


	4. Chapter 4

For a few minutes, nobody said anything. Alex wandered off from the rest of them, and stared at his new outfit from his reflection in the fish pond. _This can't be happening_ he thought.

After some time passed, Micheal, looking at his hat, broke the silence.

"M for Micheal?" he said.

"M for Mario,"'said Laura.

"This is just insane," said Crystal. "Why are you dressed up like Mario?"

"Well actually," said Alex walking up towards them, "We are all dressed up as Mario characters. As you noted, Micheal is Mario, even though he''s too tall and skinny, Laura's dressed as Luigi, even though she's to, well, female, and Crystal is Princess Peach Toadstool. Quite a fitting match if you ask me."

"And who the hell are you supposed to be? You look like a mushroom." At this point, Alex started laughing. "What are you laughing at?"

"'Just that that insult was so ironic, seeing as how I AM a mushroom. Well not quite. They never really explained it, but anyway my name's Toad."

"But how the did we get like this! Video games don't just suck people inside them!"

"Oh My God! I just had an idea!" said Laura. "What if this is actually how they make video games! They suck people inside and put their clothes and then they're stuck inside being controlled by a controller or something!" Everyone glared at her in slight disbelief.

"Laura, please leave the bimbo remarks for Crystal," said Alex.

"Hey!" said Crystal.

"Well do you have a better idea Alexander?"

"Um, no. Not a clue at all whatsoever. All I know os that if we ever get out of here I've got a great fan fic to write."

"Ok, look," said Mike. "You said that maybe getting over those hills would get us out of here, so we're going doing that."

"Well..." said Alex.

"Well what?"

"You see in the game, the hills are incredibly slippery, and even if you do manage to reach the top, there's like an invisible wall there that stops you from going through."

"So you're saying it won't work?"

"No, just saying that it might not work."

"Whatever, I'm going to try."

And acting as thinckheaded as he was, he went charging towards the hill, and he managed to climb halfway up, and for a very embarassing while, he struggled not to fall, but he couldn't go on further, so he give up and slid down.

"Oh screw this," said Laura. "Mike, man, really. I thought you were tougher than that. Well stand back, this is a woman's job."

Laura stood by the edge of the hill examining it. She put on foot on it to test how stable the surface was. Than she dug her hands into the soil, and proceeded to go up the hill like a rock climber. Alex just looked at her and smiled at her inovation, and also wishing that he was able to do that in the game. Mike was looking very pissed about being showed up by her. She reach the top, and struggled for a moment, than she called down,

"It's not use. Alex was right, there's like a force field here blocking be from getting to the other side. I'm coming down." And as she struggled to climb back down, her hand slipped out of grip and she started to fall down, but as she was, her legs started moving back and forth, and she made a slow and gentle descend on her two feet.

"Whoa, what just happened," she said. "Alex?"

Alex was quite. The way her legs were moving, he knew.

"We have the power!" he cried out.

"You're not going to start singing like Jim Carrey in his movie, are you?" said Mike.

"No, you see, I think we have the powers that the characters in the game have!"

"You mean in Super Mario 64," said Mike.

"No," he said talking a mile a minute. "they didn't have those powers in this game, in fact Mario was the only playable character, Luigi wasn't even in it. No, I think we have the powers they had in Super Mario Bros. 2."

"Huh?"

"Look, basically we have the powers that these characters have."

"Which is what exactly," said Crystal who had been quite most of this time.

"Well, like Laura just showed, she has the power to jump really high."

"What! That doesn't sound cool at all," she said.

"Believe me, it comes in handy in this game. Try it out."

Unsure, Laura jumped in the air, and she shot up several feet.

"Whoa, this is amazing!" she screamed.

"Anyway, Crystal, you have a jumping power of sorts too. You can float in the for a while. Peach always was my personal favorite character in the game. And me, I've got super-strength." Micheal bursted out laughing.

"That was funny. Please, tell me what do I have?"

""Well you have a little bit of everyone elses powers. You can jump very good, you have good strength, and you have good speed."

"Damn, that sucks!"

"'Not really. You're the best player! After all, you are the star of the series."

"Hey, that's right! You see, even in the video game world, I am the best! This is great. Wait a minute. All we know for sure is that Laura can jump, how do we know the rest of us got these powers?"

"Only one way to find out." He looked around to see anything he could do to test his strength. He spotted a tree, and got an idea. "Well, most of SMB 2 was about picking plants out of the ground..." he was terribly afraid of making a fool out of himself, but part of him seemed to know that he had the strength to be able to do this. he placed he hands around the trunk of the tree, and pulled the tree out of the ground by it's roots and lifted it over his head. The girls stared and admired, but Mike was once again afraid of being shown up.

"Give me that!" he said. Alex dropped the tree on the ground, and Mike went to grab it. He was able to lift it, but only a little from the ground, and it was obvious he was struggling. Laura was laughing out loud. "Well I'm holding a tree, that's an amazing feet in of itself!"

Crystal wondered about trying her powers. Floating in air, what did he mean by that. It sounded like something so incredible, but she was very shy to try it out. But nonetheless, she leaped into the air, and her dress openned up like a parachute, and she stayed in the air, and she, as if by magic, able to move around in the air. It was the greatest sensation of her life. As she passed over the heads of the others, Alex couldn't resist just to look up for a second and see up dress. Mike, however, noticced this, and he punched him across the face, which sent Alex flying yards away. And as he landed, he noticed a watching on his hand that hadn't been there before. In the very center of the watch was a blue circle divided into 8 parts, and he noticed that one of the parts of the circle turned into a dark blue. The circle was surrounded by what seemed to be Toad's profile. In the top left corner of the watch was a picture of Toad's head, folled by an X and the number 4. In the center top of the watch, was a coin also followed by an X and a zero. And at the top right corner was a picture of a star with eyes, folled by an X and a zero.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is it just me, or does every 5 minutes something strange keep happening," said Laura.

"So, what's the deal with these watches," asked Mike.

"Not sure, they aren't in the game, but I think it's supposed to be the stats at the top of the screen. The blue circle thing is the power meter(I'm already down one eighth cause of you) The Head is our lives, and its saying we have 4 extra lives, and the coins and the power star is pretty obvious, we have none."

"Power stars?" said Mike.

"They're something from the game..."

"LOOK!" shouted Crystal unexpectedly. She had been quiet most of this time. She was terrified. She shook with every word she said. "I don't know about YOU, but I do not plan on spending the rest of my life in a damn video game while you talk about I don't understand! Now you seem to know everything about this, so PLEASE tell us how we are going back HOME!"

"Shut up Crystal! You think I'm as not scared as you are! I don't know what's going on here any more than you do! Please! All of you, just leave me alone and let me think!"

"DO NOT TALK TO HER LIKE!" roared Mike.

"Stay out of this Micheal!" screamed Crystal. "I don't need you to defend me everytime someone looks cross-eyed at me! You're not my father! Your not my bodyguard!"

"Hey dumbass, I was trying to help you out here, and you start ing at me!"

Crystal and Micheal continued bickering, this was not unusual, they broke up every other day. Alex walked away from the rest, sat down under a tree and sighed. He did have an idea of how to get them out of here. But they couldn't do that. It was way too stupid and dangerous, and they would get killed. Still, they did have these new powers, and the watch said they had 4 lives, but could that be trusted. He certainly didn't want to try out.

"Hey there," said a familiar voice behind him. It was Laura. "Are you ok."

"I'm fine. Leave me alone."

"C'mon, don't go yelling at me just because you're pissed off with the others," she said in a too sweet to be true kinda voice.

"Who says I'm pissed off at them. Maybe I'm pissed off at you!"

"Well I haven't given you any reason to pissed at me," she said, her voice getting louder.

"Oh yeah, well you're sure as hell pissing me off right now!" Alex said. He got up walked away, and sat down somewhere else.

"You're an idiot you know that!" screamed Laura.

"Well I'm the smartest person here!"

"I was just trying to help you and you push me away! God, no wonder you don't have any friends!"

That was one phrase that should never be spoken to Alex. Yet you heard it so much. You spent the next few minutes invisioning himself brutally killing, than he started to regret that. She had only tried to help. He liked her so much. Why couldn't he just say it.

Twenty minutes passed, Mike and Crystal kept arguing, Laura walk around, exploring every detail of the grounds, and Alex sat, thinking his plan over. Finally he got up and walked towards Mike and Crystal.

"Guys, I need to tell you something..." Laura must of overheard, cause she headed towards them too. "I have an idea about how we might get back home. I haven't mentioned it becuase frankly I didn't want to it, but I don't think we have a choice now. We might get out, we might die. But I think we have to go inside that castle."


	6. Chapter 6

With that sentance came an extended silence. Alex was afraid to say anything else until he got the group's reaction. Laura shuddered a bit when she heard it, Mike was trying his best not to seem afraid(which he was failing at) and Crystal just screamed,

"NO! We are NOT going in there! There is no way! I'm never going near that castle!"

The castle. They all felt it. That's why none of them had even gotten near the draw bridge, it too terrify. They didn't know why, but just looking at it creeped them out, even if it was beautiful.

"Look...I'm just saying, maybe if we go in there, we might, suddenly appear back in my basement."

"I don't care!" said Crystal. "I'll die before I go in there. I swear to God, you cannot make me."

"What's the big deal," said Laura. "Ok, sure, maybe it looks kinda bad, but like Alex said, there isn't any other way..."

"Micheal, tell them we are not going in there!"

"Ok," said Mike. "So, um, is it REALLY neccessary to go in there? I mean, what about the...waterfall over there. We're does that lead."

"The waterfall leads back inside the castle," said Alex. "And besides, there's no way you can fight the currents."

"Fine. Ok, I myself have not really played Super Mario 64, and I'm pretty sure neither of the girls have either."

"Nope, I hate video games," said Crystal.

"I only have PSX and PS2," said Laura.

"So, as you can see Alex, we kinda need your help. So, in the game, what exactly is inside the um, castle."

"It's basically where the game takes place. Where all the levels are and such."

"But specifically, what do you see when you open that door."

"Just a regular hallway, than a big room with lots of doors. The dangerous parts aren't in the castle, they're in the paintings."

"Paintings?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain. Look, that's not important. I'm going, who else is?"

"I am," said Laura. Alex smiled.

"Crystal?" asked Alex.

"I..." she said in the verge of tears. "I just can't."

"Fine then, let's go Laura."

Toad and Luigi walked through the field to the castle, leaving Mario and the Princess behind.

"C'mon, Christie, please, what's the worst that can happen," pleaded Mike.

"I don't know honey. I just have this feeling deep inside of me saying, stay the hell away from that castle."

"Just do it. Please. I'll be there. I'll keep you save. You don't have to be afraid." He wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh Mike. I love you. Let's do it." She kissed him softly, and they headed toward Toad and Luigi.

Alex and Laura were justing there, on the edge on the stone drawbridge, almost petrified. Mario and Peach came up, Micheal had his arm on her shoulder.

"So, you decided to join us," said Laura.

"Yeah," said Crystal softly.

"So let's do this," said Alex. Nobody moved. Just standing here was making them shiver. Their spines were literally tingling. And fighting every impulse in his body, Alex took a step onto the bridge. "See, that wasn't so bad." _Why I am so afraid, I've done this so many times. I know there's nothing bad waiting for me at that door._

One by one, Mario, Luigi, and Peach followed lead and stepped forward. They took another slow step forward, only to find something blocking them. It appeared in a flash, a transparent board floating mid-air was blocking them from the rest of the bridge. Writing appeared on it.

"Woah, what is this!" said Laura.

"I, don't know." said Alex. "It kinda looks like, well um, when someone's talking, this is how it shows it."

"So someone's talking to us," said Laura.

"I guess."

"But who?" asked Mike. Alex began to read the message,

"'Welcome my children. I see you have finally figured out what to do. However it took you more than half an hour.'" At the bottom of the board was a round button with B ingraved, Alex pressed it and the words disappeared replaced by new ones.

"'To answer the question you were about to ask, Lauren, I will tell you who I am. I am your creator. I will say no more on the topic at the moment' Our creator?"

"God?" said Crystal.

"Either that or Shigeru Miyamoto." Alex said. He pressed B again, the new words appeared. "'Do not be worried, I have not brought you here for harm. I have brought you here for a reason, and I will leave you to meditate why on your own. But I will tell you this. If you ever wish to return to your homes, you must play this game and win.'"

"Oh my God," said Micheal.

Alex, who was starting to sweat, pressed B anxiously to see the rest of the message. "'I have given you all 4 lives, and all the abilities neccessary to win this game. Use those lives carefully, you can collect others, but if you lose all of those you will die.'" B again, more words. "'I will give you no further assistance winning this game. I trust that your friend Alexander will help you out though. So enter this castle, and begin." There was no B at the end of this message. The board disappeared.

The kids stood there.


	7. Chapter 7

"What was that," said Crystal quietly.

"I kinda wish I could tell you," said Alex.

Crystal grabbed Micheal around the waist. "It was God. God put us in here."

"That's riducolus," said Mike. "Ok, look I don't even believe in God."

"Well you should. You're gonna burn in hell, you satanist!" said Crystal.

"What satanist, damn it, I don't even believe in God, I don't believe in the devil either, ok."

"He's an athiest," said Alex.

"Yeah, what he said. So you're on my side, right Alex."

"Well, I'm kinda Catholic, so um..."

"Great, so everyone's against me!"

"I didn't say I was against, I just said that I um, really don't know what's going on."

"People, people listen," said Laura. "Ok, we aren't here to debate the existance of God, ok. What's important was that message. Whoever wrote that could read our minds, and he said if we want to go home we have to play the game."

"He also said we could die," said Mike.

"Well we have to do something, don't we," said Laura.

"I think she's right," said Alex.

"This is unbelievable," grunted Mike. "You two are going to risk your lives because of that? Look at the facts, whoever is doing, God or not, has kidnapped, sucked us into a video game, and now is forcing us into a game where we can die? Does that sound like a God to you?"

"Yeah, it does kinda sound like an elaborate practical joke," said Alex.

"It said there was a lesson to learn from this," said Crystal.

"The only lesson I've learned from this is stay the hell away from N64. Whoever is doing this justs wants us to die."

"Look, if he could do all of this, obviously he has powers," said Crystal. "If he wanted us dead, he could have killed us already"

"You don't know that," said Mike.

"Alex," said Laura abrubtly. "You're the only one who knows how to play the game. Explain it."

"Well, here's the basic plot. This castle belongs to Princess Peach Toadstool, that's you Crystal. She's the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. The bad-guy's Bowser, the king of the koopas, a race of things that look like a cross of dragons, turtles, and birds. Anyway, that guy wants to take over the mushroom Kingdom, so he steals the power stars, which protect this castle. With the power stars, he traps the Princess and her servants in the walls of the castle, and hides the powers stars so that nobody can get them."

"Wow, that sounds so gay," said Mike.

"Hey, don't use gay in a negative way like that," said Laura.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to offend Alex over here," said Mike as Crystal giggled.

"Can we please get back to what we were talking about? Anyway, here's how the game goes. Most of the stars are hidden in the different worlds, most of the worlds you get into by going into paintings that are hung on the walls. Getting stars will open other doors so you can go to different worlds. When you get 8 stars, you can fight Bowser the first time, and get the key to basement. After you can go to the worlds down there until you get 30 stars, than you can fight Bowser a second time and get the key to go upstairs. You collect power stars up there until you get 70, than you can fight Bowser the last time and win."

"So basically we just gotta find these stars to win?" asked Mike.

"Not quite, you see there's a challenge involved in getting every star, and believe me it is not easy to defeat Bowser."

"What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is, I've never been able to play the game straight through without losing all my lives atleast once."

"So, what, we're dead?"

"I don't know..."

"How long will it take?" asked Mike.

"I don't know, I guess we could do it, in like a week."

"A week!" screamed Mike.

"I'm sorry, maybe if we go fast we could do it in a few days. Hey, maybe if we stay up all night we can have it done by tomorrow."

"Ok, let's do this!" said Laura. Everyone looked at Mike.

"Hmm, you better not let us die, cause if you do I will kill you!"

The walked up to the door, and than the fear they had been feeling before started to re-surface.

"Open it, Mike," said Crystal.

"No!" he said. "I mean, Alex probably knows to do it better."

Alex rolled his eyes and stepped forward. He was not going to let himself look like a coward in front of him, despite how horrible he felt. He grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and pulled.


	8. Chapter 8

They entered into a fancy, albeit small hallway, nothing at all like Micheal, Crystal or Laura would have imagined. Alex on the other hand was actually grinning, though a grin from him could easily be confused with an ugly glare. Feeling there fears drop slightly, they entered, only to be terrified beyond anything they had ever felt. 

"Welcome. No one's home! Now scram—and don't come back! Gwa ha ha!"

The disembodied voice boomed through the castle, the sinister laugh echoing through the walls, every damning syllable vibrating through the kids' very bones, as though evil itself were talking. Alex suddenly felt Laura tightly grab on to his arm. Crystal jumped back in shock, and Michael breathed in slowly. Alex looked ashamed of himself.

"I'm so stupid!" He said shaking slightly from fear. "I should have remembered that!"

"What was that?" asked Laura, now slightly embarrassed from being so scared.

"Nothing, just Bowser trying to scare us off. I should have remembered to tell you…"

"Damn right, you nearly…scared Crystal half to death," said Michael, catching himself before he said something he'd regret.

"I'm sorry. But, c'mon we're wasting time here. Let's go play the game I guess."

They walked forward into an enormous entrance hall. The floor was marble where it wasn't covered in red carpet. There were 9 doors in all in the room; in front of them was a huge staircase that led to a balcony overlooking the entire room, with three doors, one directly in front of the staircase with a giant keyhole, on the left side on the balcony a pair of double doors with a huge star painted on it, and on the right side a smaller door with a star painted on it. On the main floor were four doors in total, two on the far left and right of the room with stars painted on them, and two plain wooden doors next to the fancier doors. And on either side of the room were two smaller balconies each leading to a door too. The walls and high ceiling were painted to look like grass and sky and clouds, and at the very center of the floor was a large sun shaped design painted on.

"Wow…" was all Crystal had to say. After the great fear of even coming inside, and the aftershock of the evil sounding voice, she had to admit it was beautiful. Alex looked around in awe, though careful not to show it on his face, examining the large stain glass window of the Princess. Even Michael was smiling despite himself.

"This is so totally awesome!" said Laura.

Crystal couldn't contain herself and jumped into the air, savoring the joy of being released from the ground and floating through the air like magic. Laura joined in, and leapt, all the while her legs moving in an almost comical manner, straight across the room. The two girls looked like they were acrobats at a circus, and Micheal soon started too, and discovered that although he couldn't jump nearly as well as the girls he could jump several feet in the air. Soon he was hopping around the room like a frog, while Laura was doing flips and discovering for herself all the different jump moves in Super Mario 64, and Crystal floating in the air.

Alex watched this all in silence and realized how bizarre his life had become in less than an hour's time. Still, even he was in a video game watching three people he'd hardly even spent any time with dressed up as Mario characters and experimenting their newfound super-powers, he had to admit they did look like they were having fun. He watched them enviously wishing he could join in. Sure Toad was the worst jumper in the SMB2, but still he had to have some improvements. But he couldn't. He couldn't just start jumping around and look like he was enjoying himself. Then he noticed something in front of him.

"Oh, this could be helpful…" he said to himself.

He went up to the foot of the staircase, on either side was a platform, or a pillar, or whatever, Alex had no idea what the heck it was. The point was that one each one were two golden coins. Grabbing on to the edge, he pulled himself up and was surprised how natural that came to him. He reached his hand forward to grab the coin, but when he touched it, it disappeared leaving nothing but a cloud of sparkly dust that fell over him. He felt his body tingle like electricity was pumping through him, and noticed that the power meter on his watch had recovered the hit point he'd lost earlier thanks to Micheal. The others had finally stopped their gymnastics and were all watching Alex curiously.

"What are those?" asked Micheal.

"Coins. I already told you about them outside, remember. See, you have a meter here on the watch telling you how many you have. They help regain your health, and you can also collect them to get a star."

"Cool, let me see," said Laura and in jumped up next to Alex in a single bound. Micheal pulled up to the other platform, and Crystal tried to as well ("Damn, I can't move in this freaking dress!") And so hovered a few inches in the air to make it easier. The three of them tried the coins, and marveled for a few seconds at the strange supernatural sensation.

"Hey, who's that dude over there," said Crystal suddenly noticing a small transparent figure in the corner.

"Oh him, that's just another mushroom guy, like I am. He's in a bunch of places throughout the castle, he like gives you advice and stuff."

"Is he a ghost?" she asked nervously.

"No, he's just trapped inside the wall."

"If he's trapped inside the wall, how can we see him at all?" said Micheal.

"Uh…oh, I don't know! Who cares?"

"Awesome, I'm gonna go talk to him," said Crystal, now walking towards the mushroom and watching as it slowly turned corporeal. "Um, hey there. How are ya?"

"Am I glad to see you! The princess…and I…and, well, everybody…we're all trapped inside the castle walls," the mushroom replied. "Bowser has stolen the castle's Stars, and he's using their power to create his own world in the paintings and walls. Please recover the Power Stars! As you find them, you can use…"

"Um, riiight, whatever," said Crystal walking away as the mushroom continued talking to himself "Bor-ing!"

"Ok, are all the children done with playtime now?" said Alex sarcastically. "Because, frankly, I can't wait to get out of here, so we have to start, um…playing. But the serious kind of playing, not what you were doing…I mean…oh you know what I mean."

"So what do we do?" asked Micheal. "I mean where are these worlds, the paintings you were saying to us about?"

"In there," he said pointing to the smaller balcony at the left. Well, that's only one we can go into now. All the other doors our locked and so we need to get enough stars to open them. Look," he said going to a door with a three written on it inside a small star. As soon as Alex had touched the handle however, it seemed an invisible force had back him off, and the castle again became filled with the cold wicked laugh. Alex cringed, and turned back to see the look of horror on the others. 

"I'm sorry!" he said quickly. "Sorry, I completely forgot! Just, see you can't get in until you have three power stars."

"Well, let's go then," said Micheal. Alex lead them up the small flight of stairs and beyond a door with a single small star painted on. Inside was a much smaller room, the wall was a dull shade of beige, and the floor was covered in red carpet. It would have been pretty boring had it not been for the presence of a huge painting on the wall. It didn't appear to be hanging there, rather it seemed somebody had put a frame around a mural on the wall. It was easily bigger than all four of them put together. On it there was what appeared to be three bombs, with little feet and white circles where eyes would have been on a living thing.

All of them stepped forward, onto the small platform below it, looking like they were at a holy religious site.

"What are those," asked Crystal breaking the silence.

"Bomb-ombs," answered Alex. "They're bad guys; Tons of them all over the game. They're like literally suicide bombers. They blow themselves up when they're around you, but you can throw them at other baddies."

"And what other 'baddies' are there," asked Crystal apprehensively.

"Hmm, goombas mostly. They're like these evil walking mushroom thingies. But there's tons of stuff."

"Well, this just keeps getting better and better," said Crystal.

Alex sat down on the steps in front of the painting, and was silent for almost a minute before Micheal asked, "Uh, what are we doing?"

"I'm just thinking," he answered. "Trying to figure out which star to go for. I don't want to try anything to dangerous. There are the red coins of course, and also the island in the sky. Hmm, come to think of it, Laura could probably beat Koopa the Quick with those legs of hers." The others looked at him like every other word he had spoken was Bulgarian.

As Alex continued pondering, until he was broke out of his thought by Crystal's sudden gasp. He looked up, and was shocked to see another transparent board floating in the air in front of them like they had seen outside.

"It's him again," she said softly. They looked on the board, where writing appeared before them.

You will play for the stars that I tell you to play. When you enter a world you will see the name of the star I want you to get before entering it. You must only play for the star I tell you. If you decide to complete the challenges necessary for a different star, no star will appear. Also, just so you know, all four of you must touch the star to win it. You cannot move the star either.

"Well he must have won a world record for most times using the word star in a paragraph…" said Mike.

By the way, you've been here almost an hour now. I'd hurry up if I were you.  
The Creator

"That solves that problem, I just hope it's not the chain chomp," said Alex. "Now than, we just have to jump in there."

The four of them looked up but didn't move a muscle. This was just like how they looked outside of the castle, but now instead of fear it was common rationality, none of them wanted to jump into what was seemingly a solid wall.

Alex, sensing their anxiety, stepped forward. Slowly he placed the tip of his finger on it, and ripples appeared on the surface, like a rock thrown in a pond. Then, now more for his own curiosity then for the others, he stuck his entire hand in, and felt it push through a liquidly surface, and beyond that, the touch of fresh air.

The others were watching him with the deepest of fascination. Slowly, he placed his face onto the painting, and in a swift thrust, he put his entire head into it, his eyes amazed by the green valley, mountainsides, bomb-ombs, and cannons that lay before him. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! He thought to himself. THIS CANNOT POSSIBLY BE HAPPENING!

His heart beating a mile a minute, he pulled out, clearly aghast; and said simply, "See, that wasn't so bad…" 

"So, are we like, gonna go?" asked Laura.

"But what do we have to do!" asked Crystal. "What do we do when we get in there?"

"I don't know," he answered grimly. "We can only know when we actually go inside and see which star we're going after. But you don't have to worry, the Bomb-Omb Battlefield is one of the easiest…"

"Battlefield!" she cried sounding horrified.

"It's not us who are at battle, it's the red and black bomb-ombs. The only immediate danger is if one of the water balloon cannonballs or whatever those things are fall on us."

"I'm not going!"

"I am," said Mike suddenly. He was tired of looking afraid, he had to redeem himself after being humiliated outside. He didn't want to go, but he had to.

"No, Mike! Please, don't! You could die, I don't know what I'd do!" screamed Crystal.

"Come with me," he said softly, grabbing her hands and staring into her eyes, trying to seem as suave as possible. "We have to do this, you know we do. But I'll keep you safe. If we don't risk it we'll be trapped here forever. We have to, er, conquer our fears, and then we'll be free…but the important things is that I love you. Yeah…"

"Oh Micheal, let's just go! But go with me please, I can't go in alone!" So they stood side by side, and ran up towards the painting, jumped in (performing a perfect long jump) and disappeared. Now Alex and Laura were left alone.

"Um…" she said sounding like she was going to say something but changed her mind. "Do you want to…" she said pointing at the painting.

"Oh, no, ladies first." So, smiling like a maniac as if this were the kind of thing she'd been waiting her whole life for, she turned her back to the painting, waved good-bye to Alex, and did a backward somersault into the painting.

Now alone, Alexander couldn't resist trying something out before going in. He jumped straight into the air. He didn't jump as high as the others could, but he leapt higher than he ever had, feeling light as a feather while going into the air, like the floor had turned into a trampoline. He jumped around the room, laughing like he could never have done in front of those others, performing various kinds of jumps and flips. Suddenly realizing that he should have gone in by now, he ran across the room, jumped once into the air, jumped a second time up the stairs, a little higher now, and jumped a third time, doing a forward somersault into the air, ending a perfect triple jump, all worries and fears erased from his mind, and plunged into the unknown…


	9. Chapter 9

Wow, I haven't thought about this story in so long. I feel really bad for having abandoned it. I actually had started writing anothe chapter, but I accidently deleted it, and after that I got discouraged and just stopped with this altogether. I know I'm never going to start writing this, not after all this time. I wouldn't be able to capture the same feeling, I don't think, now that I'm older. Anyway, if anyone is interested, I'll post a brief summary of what I planned to have happen in the rest of the story and what happened to the four main characters.

Ok, here goes:

Alex, Mike, Laura and Crystal go through the motions of collecting 70 stars. It is not an easy task even with their new found super powers. They travel throughout the many worlds anyone who's played Super Mario 64 knows about, and are only allowed to collect one a day, which means their stay there is slightly over two months. Throughout there is the constant danger of dying - remember, even though they start with four lives, if they go down to zero they will lose.

But, in the midst of this struggle to live, they face more troubling inner struggles. When they are done their mission for the day, and are allowed to stop playing action here, they are left to sleep on the floor of the castle, and are given a breakfast and dinner everyday, always different, the highlight of their lives in the game. Alex has to take over as the leader, being the one with the most knowledge, and so the burden of protecting everyone else lies on him. He also finds it hard to deal with suddenly being the strongest in the group.

Mike and Laura are easily the best at performing the tasks, Mike being a gloryhound and Laura being completely fearless. Mike gloats of his accomplishments, yet presses for Alex to tell him everything he knows, and is secretly very afraid. Laura however seems to have come into a dream here, where she is meeting thrills she never could have imagined, and getting excited by the risk.

Crystal is little more than a burden for the first few days, paralyzed with fear, halfway hysterical. In time she learns to deal with it, and soon starts striving to work her hardest to help them get out of there.

Crystal, never a religious person before, starts praying fervently every night, citing off everything her parents told her about Christianity and the Bible that she never cared about before, convinced that this is all some sort of punishment for a sin of hers. Michael humors this behaviour for a while, but grows sick of it, as day after day she starts begging him to convert, as though it will magically bring them out. Their arguments grow more and more frequent, and Crystal starts crying and Mike is left frustrated and takes it out on Alex.

Alex, and Roman Catholic, starts watching Crystal's silent vigils and feels compelled to join in eventually. This begins a bond between the two of them. Before then they had hardly ever thought of each other, soon their new found spirituality sets them apart from the others, as though they are now better then the others. Crystal is deathly afraid of water, it is the only thing she refuses to tackle, so during the water level, "The Creator" allows Alex to stay behind with Crystal while Mike and Laura search for the stars. During this time, brainy ugly Alex, and beautiful popular Crystal begin to discover how much they really have in common while they talk about their favorite TV shows, foods, and their less then perfect families. Alex is surprised to find out Crystal is a straight-A student, and Crystal worries when she realizes that Alex doesn't have any friends.  
Meanwhile, Alex has begun feeling superior to Mike now that he holds strength and strategy over his head, and Mike finds it harder to make him the brunt of his jokes. Through the comeradery of their adventures, Mike and Alex share a few moments when they work together, share jokes, maybe even start getting along. Neither will admit it. In the first grade they had been great friends, spending every recess together. By fifth grade however, they had grown apart, Mike playing his sports, and Alex, undersized and unpopular, left by himself. Alex disowned Mike as a friend, drove him away at every chance, and so went home and played video games in his basement. The popular kids picked on Alex, and Mike joined them. By junior high Mike was the most popular guy, and Alex was his enemy.

Throughout this Alex admired Laura from afar, amazed at her bravery and strength, and so attracted to her. He was with her every day, and she was always so kind. He made a great effort never to get angry with her, though he often got angry with the other two. Laura was the one who always nice, except when she needed to handle a problem, when she showed her great intelligence. If there was a flaw in Laura, Alex ignored it. And Laura thought Alex was so sweet, a real nice boy. They laughed so much together, he was a great friend.

Crystal and Alex's praying kept on and on every night, though half the time Alex recited the prayers with an empty heart. He knew Crystal was a hypocrit, yet he had allowed her to become his spiritual adviser. He knew she and Mike smoked cigerattes, and maybe even drugs. But Crystal was so persuasive in her speaking that Alex rarely thought about it. Crystal wanted to become Alex's 'saviour'. She wanted to find out everything about him so she could help h im become 'normal.' The more and more she would badger him, the more afraid he got, and the angrier he grew to hide his feelings, hoping to push her away.

Finally, one night, Crystal and Mike broke up completely. Nobody really cared, this just meant they wouldn't sneak off to make out during the night. Crystal saw the looks Mike and Laura gave each other. She knew all along Alex had a crush on Laura, though she hadn't mentioned it. Now she wondered if Mike did too. Mike and Laura were so close, such good friends. Mike had a lot more in common with the tomboy Laura than the princess.

One night, Alex and Crystal went out to pray, and Crystal started crying. She told Alex about how sad she really was, how her parents were always yelling and how she hated that they gave her everything she wanted. Alex held on close to her, and finally he revealed to her everything about him and Mike, and told her about his family, his two older brothers, and him who was all but forgotten at times. For one brief moment they forgot themselves and kissed each other, and then terrified they separated.

Another time, while Laura and Crystal were alone, Crystal said she thought Alex might have a crush on her. Laura brushed this off as impossible, and then Crystal asked abruptly if she liked Mike. Laura was shocked, and assured her they were just friends. Mike however, had started to see Laura in a new light, and Alex was worried when he noticed this. Mike and Alex had started becoming like back in the first grade. They were talking and laughing, they hadn't fought in days. But ALex could not stand the thought of losing Laura to him.

Alex and Crystal's prayer sessions ended. The day after the kiss Crystal searched for him, but Alex pushed her away, and not knowing his own strength, hurt her quite a bit. Furious, Crystal swore never to speak to him again, and Alex was fine with that. The next day while after a star, Crystal caused tripped and the end result was her dangling off the side of a cliff when they were just about to get the star. By this point they had all exhausted all but one of their lives. Alex was closest to her, but his fear of heights did not allow him to reach close enough to help her. Alex had kept this fear hidden, thinking it was stupid, but Crystal knew about it, and while Mike and Laura tried pulling Crystal up, a baddie attacked them and they all fell over. Now they all had only one live left and had start from the beginning of that level. Alex berated Crystal verbally, calling her a stupid burden who he wished would just die so maybe at least the rest of them could have a chance to live.

Mike defended Crystal, and it soon turned to an all out fist fight, and Alex savoured the opportunity to beat down his long time bully, his traitor ex-friend, so happy that he was now the stronger one. At long last, Mike lay hunched in the corner with a bloody nose, and Alex only stopped because Laura had intervened. She bent down to check Mike's wounds, but Mike was not done. "Are you happy now, loser?! You think you're soo tough, but guess what - this is just a game. This ain't real! You don't have anything. You don't have any strength and you don't have any friends. Everybody hates you Alex. Look around. EVERYBODY HATES YOU! So just off, freak! We don't want you here anymore."

Alex, despite every ounce of instinct telling him different, burst into tears. He couldn't stand to be there anymore and so ran away, ran down a flight of stairs until he fell to the floor and broke down sobbing. Suddenly, he felt someone behind him. Laura had come. Laura was there, and she put her arm around him and held him while he cried like a baby. In fourth grade, when Alex first met Laura, she had told some older boys to leave when they had tried to break Alex's snowman at recess. Since then Alex had put Laura on a petistool, perfect, divine, there in a way nobody, not even his mother, had ever been. Alex dried off his eyes and told Laura how much he loved her, how much he wanted to be with her. Laura was shocked, and worst of all, disgusted. She did not like Alex that way. Alex was ugly. She liked Alex as a friend, and she told him that he was a great friend, and that they would always be friends. Alex had anticipated this, every time he had imagined telling her his feelings. He did not cry anymore, but he didn;t dare look her in the eyes.

Mike's words haunted Alex, and he began looking inside himself, wondering about how he acted. He had always blamed things on other people, but he had never taken any responsibility himself. Maybe the reason people, at least some of them, were mean to him was because he treated them with any regard. Mike might have been a bully, but did not Alex always treat Mike like an idiot, constantly insulting him too?

So Alex began changing. He made an effort to be nicer. Mike had not quick to become friends with Alex again, but Alex returned to praying at night, and after a while, Crystal joined, and soon so did Laura. Laura had never been taught religion at home. Her parents god was their own bodies. They trained Laura to be an athlete, to get good marks at the same time, and to always be perfect. She did not develop an ego, because she did not think she was perfect. Her parents always pointed out her flaws, and so she distanced herself from them emotionally, rather not care about them then to be a disappointment. She didn't know why she joined praying, but it helped pass the time.

Alex apologized to Crystal about fifty times a day, and never thought it was enough. He tried to do the same to Mike, but he wouldn't let him talk. Laura became the intercessor between the two, trying to bring the two together. Both cared so much about Laura by this point that they were willing to get along for her sake.

Crystal was no longer a spoiled princess. She was as filthy as the rest of them, tired and alone. She did not have a cell phone, she did not have her dozens of girls ganging around her. She was still afraid, but her crying sessions had lessened significantly and she was helping them get more and more stars. Mike stopped being a gloryhound, he didn't care anymore. He justed wanted to get it all over with. He wanted to be back home, where he was popular and his mother would do everything. His mother was single, and had been since he was born. She had a boyfriend, but he didn't care about her. His mother gave him everything he wanted, but he was never satisfied. His mother let him walk all over him, because she loved him so much that she did not care properly for him.

Laura had many close calls, but kept taking more and more risks. Alex, now having lost hope of ever having her, began seeing how dangerous her behaviour was, and wondered why she acted like this. He wanted to confront her about it, but was too embarassed to speak with her directly. Eventually, it was Mike who pulled through to her, made her see how stupid she was, and made her understand there was a difference between fearlessness and bravery.

Laura wondered whether she liked Mike as more then a friend, and wondered why she was going so crazy here. She confided in Crystal, the only girl she was to talk to, about her new feelings for Mike. Crystal felt jealousy she had not expected, and suddenly felt like telling her that she kissed Alex, which also made Laura feel confused.

As the days their dwindled down they had become a well-oiled machine where it came to working as a team to get stars. While they were not as violent with each other as they had been, they wasa great depression towards the end. They were so isolated from everything they knew, all of their loved ones. They wondered what everyone thought had happened to them, and what would happen if they returned. They all started feeling detached and hopeless, but now at least they knew they were in it together.

The praying continued without Mike, but he stood and watched their insane rituals wondering why they bothered. If God was real, why couldn't he have a father? Still, Mike was starting to change. He wasn't as angry as he used to be, he didn't put on his show of being tough. One day, when Alex was again trying to make amends, Mike stopped him and told him not to apologize, that he knew that he had it coming. He told Alex how he had turned the school against him in an attempt to make himself more popular, how he had completely disregarded the friendship they had had, and didn't even think twice about it until they came here. Alex forgave him, but did not feel it in his heart.

At long, long last they stood before the last challenge, to defeat Bowser a 3rd time. Bowser had been their ultimate ordeal, the fear he stroke in their hearts was inexplicable the first two times they barely escaped with their lives. What was worst, they were all down on their last life. The Creator would not let them get any more. They only had one shot at it.

The night before the went in, Crystal told the others that she was thankful God had brought her here. She now believed that this was not a punishment, but merely a test of faith, an attempt to help the four of them in their lives. The others did not want to hear this, did not want to believe God had anything to do with their situation. The other three were terrified, but Crystal was now content that they had to do this, and whatever happened would happen.

They jumped into the hole to the world holding hands. They were far too close to feel embarassed by this. They needed each other's strength. But then the unthinkable happened. As soon as they landed, Bowser appeared and took Crystal and vanished. A note read that the other three would have to go in through the obstacles alone while Crystal was held hostage. Their fear grew ever more, what would happen to Crystal if they couldn't make it? They had to screw up their courage for her, because although she was annoying and ditzy and often selfish, she was their little ray of sunshine, the one who always made things better.

They beat the obstacles and stood before the portal to Bowser. They would have to spend the night here before going on. It was very late before Alex and Laura managed to doze off, but Mike couldn't. Alone and helpless, he kneeled down and began trying to recite the Lord's Prayer, but couldn't get past the second line. So, he just said, "Look, I don't know if you're real. I don't know if you're a lie. I used to think you were, so this is an improvement, right? I need help. I need strength. I can't do this alone. We can't. So if this really is a test, don't let us fail. Save us. We may not deserve it, but please…and thanks. Thanks for everything you've ever given me. I'm so sorry for the way I've acted. Um…Amen."

When morning came they wasted no time. They leapt in and found themselves on the floating island surrounded by bombs. Across from them was Bowser. Above them was Crystal, in a floating cage. The battle began. There were plenty of damaging blows, but eventually Laura landed a hit on Bowser. The island shrunk smaller, and they kept on their three-way attack, but Bowser was a fair match. Showing unknown strength, Crystal managed to rip the bars of her cage and leapt onto the battlefield, and after landing in a couple of punches on Bowser just for her own fun, she managed to toss him onto a bomb. She had never before had the nerve to do anything against Bowser. The fight continued. All of their power meters were running low. They were all just trying to stay alive, not even bothering to attack. Laura dove in behind him, but Bowser swatted her with his tail, and she was left in the red zone, too weak to try anything more. Alex and Mike both ran to tackle Bowser, before he hurt Laura, and unintentionally Alex was tripped over by Mike's feet. Bowser turned around. Alex had fallen on the floor and twisted his leg. He couldn't get up. Crystal was nursing a deep cut in Laura's forehead that was gushing out blood. Bowser breathed in, about to blow a fireball at Alex, who was trying to crawl away. He would die. And instinctively, without even thinking about what he was doing, Mike stepped in front of Lyle. The fireball hit him. With an agonizing scream Mike disappeared from them. He died. He died saving Alex. Hot tears swam down Alex's cheeks, a fury took over him. In an instant he had latched onto Bowser's tail, and with great pain he stood up, ignoring his injuries, and swung Bowser around and around over his head. He hit the bomb. Bowser was dead. So was Mike. They won the game and lost their Mario.

Quite suddenly, the three survivors found themselves out in front of the castle, but they were not happy. Their injuries were cured somehow, but it didn't matter. They cried and cried, and Alex realized that he was mourning Mike, that Mike loved him so much that he died to save him. He screamed out that Michael was the best friend he had, and Laura and Crystal agreed adding that they loved him – like a brother. Then suddenly, they heard, "I didn't know you cared so much."

There from the castle doors emerged Mike, perfectly fine, and grinning. In utter amazement and confusion, they forget everything and ran up and hugged him, their tears mixed with laughter until finally, asked Laura, "How?!" "We saw you die," said Crystal.  
"I did die. At least, I think so. All I remember was everything going dark, then I woke up, and there was all this bright light. And I heard a voice, and it just said, 'No greater love can a man show, then to give up his life for his friends. You have been given a second chance. Don't mess it up.'" They were so happy to be reunited, to all be safe and alive, they almost forgot that the game was over. A message appeared from the creator:

"You have all done well. Congratulations. The challenges you have faced were difficult, but you rose to the challenge and it made all the difference. Be proud, for you are four extraordinary young people, and never doubt you strength, your intelligence, your competence or your ability to love. I send you back home better people then you were, I have given you all a second chance on life. Don't mess it up. Shoot yourselves out of the cannon by the lake. When you land you will return. PS- Here's a treat before you leave."

A huge cake appeared before them, and they enjoyed very much eating it. They held on to their last moments they had here, and felt almost frightened of going back. They knew what they were here, how they stood amongst each other. What would happen when they went back? Would they ever tell anybody what had happened, could they go on being their new selves in their old lives?

It was not easy leaving, but one by one they departed, taking on last look at the castle below them, they were blasted through a barrier in the sky. And suddenly they stood in Alex's basement. It felt so strange to be back in their normal clothings. They had gotten used to the costumes. Not a moment had passed, it seemed. They looked at each other, and were silent. "Well," said Mike. "You were right Alex. Super Mario 64 is a pretty tough game. Not for kids." "It was worth it just to hear you say that," smiled Alex. "Do you think, do you think I could borrow the game," said Laura. "You want to play it now after all of this?!?" said Crystal in disgust. "Well, there were still about 50 stars left, right? Well, I kinda want to find out where they were. It'll be pretty easy now that it's just a controller." "You can have it, I don't think I'm going to be playing any video games for a long, long time." "Well, I want to go home and sleep for like a year, so could we start this project tomorrow. At the library?" said Crystal. They all agreed.

It was strange, but Alex felt so much happier suddenly. He felt good about himself, but not superior. Now that he did, he started looking at his family in a different way, and noticed all the things they did for him, and he thought that they really loved him. Crystal's parents still fought, but she did not let herself be brought down by it. She knew it wasn't her fault, and she had her God their now for comfort. Mike went home and did something he had not done in many years, and hugged his mother. She was very taken aback when he apologized for everything he'd done to her, and promised from now on he was going to be a good son to her. And Laura forgot about being perfect for her family, but concentrated on loving them. It wasn't easy for any of them to reform their families, since their parents and siblings had not learned what they did, but it did make them a lot happier.

At school, nobody could understand how these four had become friends. After the first few days of awkwardness, they had let their friendship be known to the world. Alex no longer acted like a genius, better then everyone else, and when anyone tried to bully him Mike was there to protect them. Mike did a lot to stop all the bullying at his school, though he was only one person. He wasn't as popular as he used to be, but the friends he did keep were true ones. Crystal did not spend half her life looking at herself in the mirror, applying make-up. She became a model student, a great friend and comforter to everbody around her, and helped with Sunday school lessons. Laura changed the least, but Laura was not that bad to begin with. What she learned was some common sense, to see the world around her as it really was, not just how she wanted to see it.

Alex didn't need to spend every night of his life playing video games, though he still did find the occassional one to play. He had friends now, the three ones he loved most, and the new ones he had made now that he was willing to let himself out. His crush for Laura was soon forgotten as nothing but a silly fantasy. Crystal and Mike never did get back together again, though they loved each other, it would not work. What happened after that, is up to you. Just know they would never forget each other, and no matter where life took them through high school, college, and adulthood, they were always in the game together.


End file.
